Page 31 of The Dark Sea Calls

I kept walking. A straight line. One foot in front of the other.

A branch cracked behind me, and I whirled on my feet; I held up my arm to strike, coming face-to-face with Rainn’s angry glower in the darkness. Rainn gripped my wrist, holding it inches from his face. His blue eyes sparkled silver in the moonlight, the tree branch shadows forming spider legs across his face.

“What in Belisama’s name are you doing?” Rainn hissed. “They won’t send you to the lake; you don’t need to run.”

“What?” I barked back, my voice too loud even to my own ears. Echoing off the forest around us and carrying out my question across the leaves. I winced and repeated the sentiment in a lower voice. “You think I’m running?” I asked in disbelief.

Rainn threw up his hands. “Aren’t you? The moment the Siren Queen announces that she is offering aid to King Irvine of the Undine, you race from their stronghold like a legion of sharks is on your tail.”

“I don’t have a tail,” I remarked dryly, pushing my platinum hair out of my face. Exhaling in exasperation. “I’m going for a walk; surely that isn’t a crime?”

Rainn’s eyes narrowed. “It isn’t,” he conceded. “But, as a gentleman, I must ensure your safety, so I will accompany you wherever you plan to go.”

“Surely you have better things to do.” I rocked back on my heels and resisted the urge to glance at my path—and the direction of the Dark Sea. “I won’t be long.”

“It’s no trouble.” Rainn grinned. “After all, I am to be watched at all times. Who better to watch me than a female that doesn’t trust me?”

I sucked my teeth. “Go back to the cradle, Rainn.”

He waved his hand dismissively. “And miss the chance to ruin your fun? Never.”

I exhaled angrily through my nose, feeling time burn away like a candle. “Fine,” I conceded, “But if you get in my way, I will feed you to the Kraken.”

Rainn preened, happy to have won.

It wasn’t until I was a few feet away, back on my path, did he speak again.

“Kraken?” he asked. “What in the name of faelight is a Kraken?”

It didn’t take us long to reach the cliffs overlooking the cove—not when Rainn and I were in silent competition to see who could walk the fastest.

I closed my eyes as the salty air ripped my hair from my face and washed over me. The sea was silent in the darkness of the night, without even the glow of the horizon to show where the sea ended and the sky began. The sea birds had gone to their nests, and though Everfall was too far away to see, there were no visible ships on the water.

As I looked at the two edges of the cove, where the cliffs extended into the ocean like cupped hands, I felt the weight of what I was about to do. I sank to my butt, folding my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around them.

Rainn looked out at the dark water before turning back to me. His brow furrowed, but he didn’t ask if I was okay. If anything, he seemed worried about saying the wrong thing.

“Have you ever seen the High Throne?” I asked, looking out onto the water.

Rainn crouched down, taking a seat by my side. “When I was a child. I came to your uncle’s coronation.”

I nodded. “Where Cormac’s father was murdered.”

“You mean killed for trying to take the throne,” Rainn pointed out.

I laughed wryly. “You mean to tell me that you believe the Mer-king would try something like that in a room filled with all five lake creeds and their courts?” I shook my head, exhaling the remnants of my mirth from my body. “Cormac’s father wore a collar that day. Similar to the ones on the floating dead in the whispering pass. I thought it was known that the Mer-king did not act of his own volition that day.”

Rainn’s eyes widened, and he rubbed his mouth. “You’ve surprised me,” he admitted.

“How so?”

“I didn’t realize that you had such musings in that head of yours.” Rainn leaned over and pressed the pad of his fingers to the bridge of my nose, right between my eyes.

I waved his hand away. “I look. I listen.”

“Why do you ask about the High Throne?” Rainn pondered.

“It’s a monstrous thing, don’t you think?” I turned back to the waves. “Made of ugly forgotten stone. So bloody thirsty. Its magic will never be satisfied, giving so little in return. I don’t understand those that covet it. Though I will fight to my dying breath to defend my mother from accusations of madness, I often wonder if the throne made her that way.” I exhaled a shaky breath. “If it mademethat way.”

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